EXPERTVIEW Stay calm and enjoy the ride...
Since Hull City came from behind to beat Fleetwood Town 2-1 on Saturday, it’s been hard to escape talk of promotion. Yes, promotion has been the undercurrent of the entire season for the club relegated from last season’s Championship in such pathetic fashion, but the stakes have really increased in the last few weeks.
This evening, City could mathematically seal their return to the division they were unceremoniously dumped out of last July, should they notch up a
26th league win coupled with success for Burton Albion over Lincoln City and Rochdale holding off Blackpool at Spotland.
Standing in their way will be a wounded animal in the shape of Sunderland, one with a proud manager and even prouder history and a fan base which will simply not tolerate losing four third tier games on the spin.
Just ten days ago before the Black Cats hosted Charlton at the magnificent, but empty Stadium of Light - a club chasing the play-offs under former City boss Nigel Adkins – automatic promotion was a race between three clubs.
Hull City, Peterborough United and Sunderland.
Three defeats and barely a week and a bit later, Johnson’s side have managed to remove themselves from the three horse race to ensure it’s almost certainly a closed shop for the top two – talk of closed shops given the fury over the ESL is probably a tad too soon.
Caution should be the name of the game, however, and while the Tigers will almost certainly go on and win promotion either tonight or at the weekend, Johnson’s side deserve respect, and a very good performance from the home side.
This is not a foregone conclusion and while it may be frustrating for a journalist to hear Grant Mccann’s refusal to entertain questions on promotion, it’s entirely reasonable and expected, he’s attempting to curtail the fervour and focus his mind and more importantly, that of his players on the job still left to do.
City cannot afford to lose their focus, nor can they afford to relax and believe the job is done, because it isn’t.
It matters not what others do if City beat Sunderland and then win at Lincoln City on Saturday because they will have done it themselves, there will be nobody able to take that ‘P’ away from their name on the league table.
Before that happens though, there’s a job to be done and against a side smarting from their poor run, one desperate to find some form going into the play-offs which at the minute, look for them a very daunting prospect.
Sunderland are a good side, their position in the table tells you that as does the fact they’ve got one of the league’s best players in Aiden Mcgeady within their ranks, and the division’s second top goalscorer in Charlie Wyke.
A defensive crisis and susceptibility to set-pieces may also be problematic for them, but this is anything but a walk in the park for the home side and it’s one that has to be dealt with professionally, calmly and with the first class spirit we’ve seen in the last 11 games, and for the large majority of the 42 games this term.
George Honeyman will almost certainly be available after missing Saturday’s game as a precaution.
Mccann will certainly be hoping is star man can face his former club given his importance to everything that City do, and Richie Smallwood’s return is another shot in the arm.
While there are some games which require a word or two of encouragement from the manager or his staff, this is one which should require little in the way of pre-match uplift.
Sunderland at home in any game should take care of itself, let alone one which could see this squad of players go down as Tigers heroes.
One slight worry for the hosts will be the official in charge of the game is Charles Breakwater.
His sole run-in with Mccann this season didn’t end too well with the head coach booked during the 3-3 draw at Doncaster Rovers, a game which saw Greg Docherty also pick up a caution for daring to be injured - it was that type of afternoon.
Sunderland will arrive in East Yorkshire not only with their ego bruised but also with something of a defensive crisis; no fewer than five regulars are unavailable.
Bailey Wright has just returned from a two-month lay-off through injury, while midfielder Luke
O’nien is having to operate at centre-half alongside Wright as Johnson plugs square pegs into round holes.
Few expected City to be in this position when the season kicked off at the Priestfield Stadium let alone when the fixture list was published, so to be in this position at this stage is no small achievement.
Tonight could be historic, it could also be frustrating.
To coin a phrase from Grant Mccann, let’s just all try and channel our inner calm and enjoy the ride.